Imperfect Photographs
by theravenclawquill
Summary: This is not a Cheerio, Will had realized much earlier on. Not your average empty, vapid Sue Sylvester minion. Quinn was a lady among girls. - slight Quinn x Will -
1. The Beginning

(A/N) Hi all! So this is a fic I actually started a long while ago, heh - right after the first half of Season 1 ended (after they won Sectionals). I meant to post it then, but I ended up locking myself out of the laptop I'd written it on and just recently gotten it back and... yeah, long story. Anyway, so apologies for the expired setting! Again, this takes place right after they win Sectionals and before the Back 9 episodes. Onwards to the chapter! :)

* * *

In retrospect, Will _Schuester _realized he probably shouldn't have done it.

_How could I have been so stupid?_ The anxious teacher ran his hands through his product-laden curls as he walked briskly down the hall back to his classroom.

He saw what had happened the last time he sang for a female.

Granted, Rachel Berry _was_ someone who seemed to suffer from excessively overdramatic emotions (and as Will often suspected, perhaps even insanity) – but still.

And he knew full well the effect his voice had on women. He saw how even the perfectly composed Emma Pillsbury melted into putty that day he performed his mash-up. There she was, all set with her bullet-pointed guidance counselor speech, ready to talk some sense into the lovestruck Rachel. But by the end of Will's performance, Emma could barely formulate words. What was it she had stammered? "You're a great performer"? An innocuous comment laced with awe, whispered in a voice shaky with bubbling admiration.

Yes, Will Schuester had a talent, and he knew it. Not just singing – but getting women to fall in love with him. From Arden Lovett in first grade to Terri to his blond Russian TA in college, every female he came into contact with seemed to worship him at his feet (Sue Sylvester excluded, of course, but he was on the fence about labeling her 'female' in the first place).

His silky voice, smooth dance moves, and charming one-sided smirk? Both a gift and a curse, and he was perfectly aware of that fact.

So if Will was perfectly aware of how dangerous his power was, what exactly had just compelled him to belt out Lonestar's 'Amazed' in front of the glee club not 15 minutes ago? To a group that included six young and hormonal teenage girls? And 'Amazed' – pretty much the most romantic song ever written in history? _Why did I do it?_

That was something Will was still trying to figure out himself. _I guess I just got caught up in the moment,_ he chuckled mirthlessly.

It was the club's first practice since they took Sectionals, and they were all in high spirits. Finn and Rachel were dancing around the piano, the Cheerios were actually grinning, Artie was jamming while Mercedes and Tina were belting out another hit. Will had barely stepped foot into the room before the gang grabbed his arms and pulled him into their singing conga line. The mood was exuberant… and then 'Amazed' had started up on the piano… everyone joined in… Will couldn't help himself. And then he had gotten so into it that he didn't even notice that everyone else had stopped singing until the song was over. Until the song was over, and he found himself staring into the faces of five suddenly ravenous girls.

"Uh - um," he remembered stammering, as he hurriedly glanced around the room and took in the situation. The boys were smirking as if wordlessly conveying their approval, and Rachel was glancing worriedly at her female glee-mates as if recognizing in them the mistake she had made.

But the rest of the girls – oh, their faces! Each wore a look of smitten admiration, complete with the wide eyes, sheepish grin, and lightly placed hand at the heart.

_So. Not. Good. _Will reached his classroom and closed the door with a clammy hand. _I'll just have to face what's coming next,_ he thought with a sinking sensation. _This was no one's fault but my own. I couldn't control myself. I made my bed; now I must lie in it. _

_And hopefully, I won't find a teenage girl there too._

* * *

_(_A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it! I promise the next two chapters will be much longer. Feel free to let me know what you thought in a review! :) I love hearing from you guys. Thanks for reading, and I'll update soon!


	2. Novelty Gifts

(A/N) Hey all! Thanks to MyBodyIsBrokenYoursIsBent, bran201, sparklylulz, and Mickey1980 for the kind reviews! The support is very appreciated! :)

* * *

Once again, it started with the novelty gifts.

"It's a pair of kicks, Mr. Schu," Mercedes Jones explained, her usual powerful, in-your-face voice softened just a bit. She pulled the little silver Nike shoe charm out of its box. "Hope you get a 'kick' out of it when you see it, hah! Get it?"

"That was, um, clever, Mercedes. Look," Will sighed. "I can't accept this -"

"Oh, don't be telling me you don't know what kicks are, Mr. Schu," she said, waving a hand. "I mean, you're old, but you're not _that_ old." Mercedes stopped and smiled sweetly. "That's actually something I realized recently."

Will chuckled awkwardly, grimacing and scratching his head. "No, I know what kicks are, and this is a very… nice gesture, Mercedes. It's just that… students shouldn't be spending money on teachers. It's just… not appropriate, you know?"

Mercedes' face hardened. "Oh. I get it."

"You do?" Will exhaled, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's fantastic, Mercedes. I must say, you caught on a lot faster than - "

"It's because I'm black, isn't it?"

* * *

"It's because I'm Asian, isn't it?"

Will had to fight from groaning in frustration or laughing in disbelief. He wanted to do both, as he faced Tina Cohen-Chang's disappointed gaze and offering of blue hair dye.

"No, it's not that, Tina," he groaned, putting his face in his hands. "As I just told Mercedes about half an hour ago, every person is beautiful, ok? Regardless of race."

Tina rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Like I haven't heard that one before, Mr. Schu. My parents used to make me watch after school specials about Asian kids trying to grow up amidst adversity and judgment from their peers. My personal favorite was _Fork You, Spoons!: Why Chopsticks are a Vital Cultural Icon_."

"What – ok." Will had long since learned not to dwell too long on each random, tangential statement his glee kids made. "What I'm trying to say is that this is a very nice thing for you to do, but… why now? I would love to accept this, but I can't. You girls never brought me gifts before, and you shouldn't now."

"Well, well -" Tina was grasping at straws. "I just recently realized how much you mean to me. I mean, our club. I mean, Glee. You know, in light of winning Sectionals and all… You're a – really great performer, Mr. Schu." Her eyes scrunched up into cheerful half-moons.

"Thanks, Tina." Will smiled, sighing helplessly. "But you have to see – my voice isn't who I am. That youthful guy I become when I sing? That's not really me. I'm your teacher and advisor. I'm old!" He scoffed and threw up a cuff-linked hand. "I mean, I didn't even know what kicks were until Mercedes told me."

"You didn't?" Tina cocked her head.

"Not a clue."

"Oh." Tina sighed. For what seemed like an hour, she simply stood there in front of his desk, blue eyelids despondently cast downward. Finally, she responded, "I guess you're right, Mr. Schu." She tugged on her black fingerless gloves and fiddled with the three bangles on her right arm. "I guess you could say… I just have a crush on your voice."

"That was very deep, Tina," Will smiled.

_Two down. _After Tina sheepishly waved goodbye and shuffled out the door, Will leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. That was when he realized that he was slightly disappointed he couldn't try that blue hair dye after all.

* * *

The two Cheerios were a different story.

Originally, Will didn't think they'd be as hard to turn down as the others. For one, Brittany wasn't the brightest bulb in the linen closet. And two, he didn't feel as bad being harsher to Santana, given her track record with Sue the she-devil.

But at the same time, he failed to realize the dangers of a mixture of ruthlessness and attractiveness. The two traits together, in two different girls both vying for your attention, could be double the trouble.

At present, Brittany and Santana were both draped over his desk, their pungent perfumes blending and wafting in the air.

"Girls, could you maybe back up a little?" Will attempted, but neither seemed to hear him. "Yeah, my allergies – my eyes are – "

"I just really, really wanted to apologize for giving Sue the set list," Brittany interrupted, her blond ponytail bobbing as she leaned forward on the table. Will could practically taste her scent; he felt as if he was inhaling strawberries. "I don't know why I did that. I mean, Sue's not even hot. Like, as hot as you. I'd rather help a hot person than an ugly one, that's my motto."

"Honey," Santana rolled her eyes and yanked Brittany backwards by the shoulder. "I thought your motto was 'Dress like Britney, think like Madonna.'"

"Oh… yeah."

"Anyway." As Brittany was mulling in the background, Santana pushed her way to the forefront and sat down on his desk. "I'd like to again stress how loyal _I_ was to the glee club by not leaking the set list. I would never do anything like that to a group that I actually love being a part of." She shifted, hiking her pleated cheerleading skirt up to reveal a perfectly tanned expanse of leg. "And there's a lot I love about glee club… if you know what I mean."

Will swallowed. Santana's glossy smirk and the proximity of her legs, combined with Brittany's shiny hair and sweet flavor hovering at his left, were making him feel slightly awkward.

"Girls," he croaked, clearing his throat slightly before continuing, "Look, I really appreciate you two coming to tell me this… but I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable."

They were at his side in an instant. "Why?" Brittany crooned near his left ear. "Do your shoulders ache? I think it's called like, pneumonia or something. Need a massage?"

"Erm, no, thank you – I'm alright – " Will rolled his leather chair to the right, only to be immediately startled by Santana's outstretched hands, clutched around a Thermos.

"How about some coffee? I put something special in it."

_Okay, I really need to put a stop to this, _Will thought adamantly. _But how?..._

"No, it's not that," he sighed slowly. "It's probably just how worried I am about other stuff going on in my life."

"Oh…" Santana whispered in faux sympathy. "Like your divorce?"

Will shook his head. "No… my antique chess collection."

""Huh?""

Will fought to keep a straight face as he watched Brittany's and Santana's faces wrinkle into confusion and disgust, respectively. "Yeah," he continued in a voice laced with exaggerated concern, "See, I'm putting together this little project, where I'm making my own chess board with different pieces from around the world. I have my eye on this beautiful queen from Russia, but I'm constantly worrying that someone will outbid me on eBay. It's really stressing me out."

There was silence.

"You… like chess." Santana seemed to spit the words out as if they were poisonous.

"Yep."

Brittany furrowed her brows. "Dude, you're, like, a nerd."

""Chess players creep me out.""

Will chuckled lightly as the two girls spoke at the same time, and as said two started a bit and turned in surprise to the other.

"Hey, soul sister," Brittany grinned.

"Haha!"

"You don't like chess or anything stupid like that, right?"

"For sure." Santana rolled her eyes and linked pinky fingers with her friend. "What a deal breaker."

_And they lived happily ever after,_ Will couldn't help but think to himself as he watched the two oblivious friends widely ignore him and saunter out of the room, eyes only on each other.

* * *

(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it! Quinn's chapter is coming up next :) Thanks for reading and I'll update soon!


	3. Juno

(A/N) Thank yous to sparklylulz, Mickey1980, MyBodyIsBrokenYoursIsBent, animexluva13, magitabrennen, and bran201! Your reviews are so encouraging, and I appreciate it! :)

* * *

Will Schuster wasn't looking forward to what was coming next. He knew it wasn't going to be the case of for best for last, but instead the hardest. The Cheerios were difficult because of their persistence, but at least he had no investment whatsoever in them.

Quinn Fabray was a different story.

Unlike Quinn, the other Cheerios didn't walk around campus with light smiles playing across their soft pastel-colored lips, like they were constantly holding on to any small reason to unconditionally love life. _They_ didn't wear those sweet, demure sundresses that innocently fluttered at the hem when they turned, to tantalize passersby with just a brief glimpse of their toned, tanned calves. _They _didn't have hair the color of wheat in the sunshine or cheeks always rosy with flushed pleasure. And _they_ could never – in a million years – tempt Will Schuester to cross that line.

_Unlike Quinn._

Of course, Will knew it was ridiculous; a student-teacher relationship would cross all sorts of lines – moral or otherwise. He wasn't that kind of guy. And it wasn't as if he was in love with her or anything. He almost laughed aloud at the thought. That was preposterous. It was just that – he couldn't help being _attracted _to her. _That_ was natural. Just innocent, natural attraction.

It usually didn't even present a problem at all, just a passing thought in the back of his mind or lingering glances of admiration every once in a while. But this attraction that would make it that much more difficult for Will to turn Quinn down if she actually did show up at his office and throw herself at him. _That_ would be completely different.

He sat at his desk and twiddled his thumbs, feeling just the slightest bit concerned. Could he control himself?

A shadow came into view behind the glass pane of his classroom door, and the doorknob turned slowly.

_Well, I'm about to find out. _

Quinn's binder, clutched over her chest, preceded her into the room. Will had noticed it before – her binder, decorated with inspirational quotes, scrawled in an elegant loopy font, and black and white photographs of different people. But it wasn't until further examination that he realized that they were all done by Quinn herself – the quotes were the product of her own pen, and the photographs were of her acquaintances and taken and likely even developed by her.

_This is not a Cheerio,_ Will had realized much earlier on. _Not your average empty, vapid Sue Sylvester minion. No, Quinn Fabray was a girl with depth, a girl trapped and stifled in her unfortunate circumstances. Exposed to the right environment, she could become so much more than a pom-pom waving airhead. _He was glad that she had joined glee club – albeit under forced and insincere conditions. It was a step in the right direction.

The girl behind the binder was even more interesting to watch. She was as radiant as ever, with her blond hair gently tumbled down her shoulders and thin heart shaped lips pursed into that slight, one-sided smile. Today, she was wearing a light yellow dress with a white eyelet cardigan – _a far cry from those halter top things and lowrider jeans or whatever they're called, that girls today are always wearing,_ Will thought to himself. _Quinn was a lady among girls. _Yet at the same time, the smooth expanse of her lightly skin belied any excessive innocence – as did the telling baby bump beneath the dress.

Will swallowed and forced himself to look strong. He lifted his gaze to stare straight into Quinn's big, brown doe eyes. "Hello, Quinn," he smiled. "How are you?"

She lowered her eyes and smiled softly, causing her long eyelashes to lightly graze her cheeks. "I'm okay, Mr. Schu. Just a little stressed."

In that instant, she looked – as she had looked so often recently – so vulnerable that Will had to stop himself from enveloping her in a fatherly embrace and telling her everything was going to be fine. In fact, he often had to stop himself from doing so during class and rehearsals as to not appear to the other students as preferential or inappropriate. It was extremely difficult.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Her voice, Will had noticed, always held a hint of strength behind it, no matter how velvety sweet and soft it was. "I just wanted to be around… someone who was stronger than I am."

Will chuckled. "And you think I fit the bill? Me?"

Quinn swung her backpack onto a table and carefully removed a single lens reflex camera. "Oh, don't be modest, Mr. Schu." Her faint smile, that shy downcast gaze. She fiddled with the lens of her camera. "We all know what you're going through in your personal life. To be honest, I really admire how you're handling it… all that _and_ you managed to help us win sectionals. You're really strong. I think I'd like to be like that."

Will stared, feeling the farthest thing from strong. "There are so many people who are stronger to be around than me, Quinn."

"Like who? All of us are so fucked up." The corners of her lips pursed upwards slightly as she gently lifted the camera up to her eye. The dark lens gaped at Will like a funhouse mirror. His reflection stared wearily back at him – a tired, slightly jaded, divorcee.

"Um," he swallowed, feeling uncomfortably exposed behind the lens. "What about Emma? Are you talking to her?"

_Snap. _The camera clicked, and Quinn lowered it. "Miss Pillsbury?" One of her perfectly arched brows lifted in amusement. "No offense, Mr. Schu, I know you have a thing for her and everything, but she's kind of a nutcase."

"H-"

"Face it, Mr. Schu." She smiled wryly. "My parents have disowned me, the father of my baby can't possibly raise it, the boy who agreed to help me raise it is probably a bigger baby than my actual baby, my girlfriends look at me like I'm walking cellulite … I don't really have a role model at the moment."

Will didn't respond to this. Instead, he watched silently as Quinn set the camera down carefully and pulled out several black and white photographs. They were imperfectly developed, all burnt blackened corners and soft motion blurs – but that only added to their ethereal quality.

"Wow," Will involuntarily breathed as Quinn thumbed through the pile and set aside certain ones. Upon closer inspection, Will realized that the photos were all of glee club members. A shot of Tina's back, her sweater slipping off her shoulder to reveal a small heart tattoo. Rachel in mid-laugh. Artie without glasses on. Finn peering at the camera through a slushy straw. Seeing these snapshots, of the very students he had grown to love more than anything in his life right now, filled Will with a well of happiness.

"Those are fantastic, Quinn."

"Thanks." Wavy strands of hair hid half of Quinn's face from view, but Will could see her smile down at her nimble hands. When she was finished sorting, she pushed the second pile of photos at him.

Will reached for it but then hesitated, hand pausing over the pile. Quinn nodded and smiled, "You can have those."

As he gingerly flipped through the pile, he found that the matte photos were all of him – him in front of the blackboard, him singing, and his favorite: him leaning on the piano, left arm draped over the front and index finger gently pressing down on one ivory key. He couldn't remember Quinn taking it, but he supposed that therein lied the talent of a photographer.

Just when he thought he had seen all the pictures, he stopped at one he must have missed. It wasn't of him – but of Quinn, sitting alone on the auditorium stage, arms wrapped around her knees and radiant face turned to camera. _Those eyes… they really speak volumes_. _So full of intelligence. Elegance. Mystery. _Quinn was wearing a thick winter coat and strands of bangs tumbled out of her messy ponytail, but there was still something oddly sensual about the whole photo.

Will raised his eyebrows slightly, then quickly shuffled the picture underneath the other ones of himself.

"Quinn," he sighed deeply. "Look. You've been through so much these past months, dealt with things not deserving of someone your age, and with the grace of someone twice your age. A lesser girl would've already caved and collapsed by now." Without thinking, he placed a hand on hers. She didn't move it away. "You don't need a role model. You said earlier that I was strong. But you're the strong one. If anything, you're a role model."

Quinn's cheeks flushed, at first the only indication that Will's words had registered with her. Then she looked at him through those heavy lidded eyes and replied in that soft voice that Will sometimes heard (to his chagrin) in his daydreams, "Thank you, Mr. Schu. That means a lot."

She lowered her gaze to her hand, still enveloped by her teacher's. Until then, neither of them had realized that Will's thumb had been tracing small circles on Quinn's smooth skin the whole time, just above where her wrist began.

On some level, it registered with Will that he was dangerously toeing the line that he had worked to maintain during the regular school day, but he now barreled through those doubts as if they were nothing more than smoke screens.

With his free hand, he slowly combed through Quinn's blond locks, dislodging one loose strand from where it had caught on her sticky cherry lip gloss and tucking it behind her ear.

_This is wrong. _

"Hey, Schuester – "

His door banged open, Sue Sylvester's intimidating figure appearing in the frame.

Both Will and Quinn leapt apart immediately, the illicitly charged energy between them evaporating without a trace. Quinn's hands shot back into her lap, Will's onto his computer keyboard. Both hearts pounded in the silence.

Sue's face contorted into confused, then complacent, then mild disgust. Finally, she decided on indifferent and breathed shakily, "Just wanted to tell you that your hair looked and smelled worse than a wet dog's today, but…" She scowled. "…I'll save it for another day."

"Juno." Sue nodded at Quinn in recognition before gripping the knob and slamming the door loudly shut behind her.

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Um. I should go," Quinn whispered, collecting her things and shoving them into her backpack. "But thank you for the talk." She trained her ocean-deep eyes on Will and said, "You are every bit as strong as you think I am, Mr. Schu."

"Thank you, Quinn."

He leaned in to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek. At the last second – and neither knew who was responsible – someone moved, and the kiss landed softly on the corner of Quinn's mouth.

Will stammered wordlessly and Quinn blushed furiously. Neither brought this moment up again.

Will tasted cherries for the next few hours.

* * *

(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it! Kind of a short fic, but short and simple is sometimes preferable! This fic was inspired by Dianna Agron (she actually does do photography and fashion - check out her amazing work on her tumblr!) and that photo floating around in the blogosphere of her and Matthew Morrison's cute kiss. :) If you guys wanted to check that out. Well, thanks for reading and feel free to review! :)


End file.
